2025 RTTC National Hill Climb Championship: preview
Cowbells, crowds and courage. As over 400 riders take on Matlock’s fearsome Bank Road for the 2025 RTTC National Hill Climb Championships, The British Continental joins two-time champion Dan Evans to explore the event’s raw beauty, rich history and the riders ready to carve their names into British cycling folklore.
Cow bells ringing, walls of fans lining the road, and iconic images of pain etched on riders’ faces as they push themselves to the limit up punishing gradients. This isn’t a scene from Alpe d’Huez or the Stelvio Pass, not even the cobblestones of the Muur van Geerardsbergen. Instead, it is the annual festival of cycling that is the RTTC National Hill Climb Championships, an icon of the British cycling calendar.
With the insight of two-time champion Dan Evans, The British Continental provides a comprehensive preview of this year’s event as over 400 riders and thousands of fans descend on the town of Matlock in Derbyshire this Sunday, the fearsome town centre spectacle of Bank Road taking centre stage.
Featured image: Mark James
What is it?
“Being the National Hill Climb Champion changed my life,” says Evans, who at the age of 44 is still racing and is the reigning Welsh Hill Climb Champion.
Held continuously since their inception in 1944, the championships are a highlight of the British autumn. The conclusion to a short but intense season, it has become one of the biggest grassroots sporting spectacles in the world.
The format is a simple one. Governed by CTT, the body responsible for time trials in the UK, riders are set off one by one in intervals for a short, punishing, all-out effort from the start at the bottom to the finish at the top. The fastest time is the winner. The hill, as per the topography and road design of the UK, is often short but punishingly steep.
I love how pure it is. It’s just you, your bike and a horrible hill. No excuses, no hiding
“I love how pure it is. It’s just you, your bike and a horrible hill. No excuses, no hiding,” says ASSOS UK Race Team rider Evans, who added himself to a prestigious list of winners when taking his first title in 2014 in front of big crowds on Pea Royd Lane as cycling in Britain grew in popularity. “It was an absolute whirlwind,” he says, months of preparation coming down to an effort of little over three minutes. “It took a while for the gravity of what I’d achieved to set in.” By the time of his second title in 2017, bookmakers were taking bets and, as the favourite, for one Sunday in October the attention of the nation’s cycling press centred on him. “It was a completely different experience on Hedley on the Hill where I went in as favourite, topping the Paddy Power odds, and was riding well.
“That event was one of the best days of my life and a memory that will stay with me forever,” he adds.
In becoming champion, Evans joined riders such as Brian Robinson, Malcolm Elliott and Chris Boardman on the roll of honour, all of whom used the event as a springboard towards illustrious professional careers, while more recently Dan Fleeman chose to end his seasons with the top-level Cervélo Test Team by claiming back-to-back victories in 2009 and 2010. Evans is one of a number of specialists who have carved their way into the legend of the sport through the championships, Andrew Feather one such example as he aims for a fifth title on Sunday, something last achieved by Jim Henderson, who proved unstoppable around the turn of the millennium.
In 1998, the first event for women was held, won fittingly by a 15-year-old Nicole Cooke, with the likes of current champion Illi Gardner pushing the event to new boundaries.
The event has grown over the years from a once-exclusive 90-rider field to a modern-day festival of cycling, with over 400 entries from a variety of ages and backgrounds taking part.
The course
The AHC/6H course, more commonly known as Bank Road, has hosted the championships on two previous occasions, with Matlock CC again using the iconic climb this year. In 2008, Matt Clinton and Lyn Hamel won their first titles, while back in 2016 local riders Lou Bates and Adam Kenway scored emotional victories, the latter making a remarkable comeback after being involved in a collision with a car whilst out training on the course in the week.
The climb begins in the heart of the town centre, a daunting view greeting riders as they enter the starting area; the road veering steeply upwards in a straight line, both sides of the closed road tunnelled not only by residential properties but by the thousands of spectators.
Bank Road starts off gently, the gradient then ramping up as riders approach the halfway mark, the junction with Smedley Street marking the most difficult section of the climb, gradients not falling below 15% at this point and reaching 20% at their most perilous. It is just after this point that the course ends in its traditional layout used for the annual club event, the offering for the nationals longer, continuing round a right-hand bend onto Wellington Street as the gradient eases for a dash to the line. The fastest times are expected to be around the 2:15 to 2:20 mark, a strong wind from the east not likely to have much of an impact with the climb well sheltered from the elements.
“2016 was wild,” says Evans, who rode to 11th place almost a decade ago. “The crowd was three deep at the three-quarter mark, cowbells galore and a wall of noise until the corner near the top. From that point it went quiet, the bulk of the climb done and just the lonely last push to the line.
“I’ll approach Bank Road like I’ve always approached the nationals: a bit of training volume the week before, some sharper efforts in the week leading up to the race and plenty of excitement for what’s to come. On race day I’ll try and stay away from the crowds, stay relaxed, do my thing and enjoy the moment.
“I’m better suited to long climbs rather than the short and explosive efforts like Bank Road. My focus will be on getting as much power out on the steep section then holding on to the line.”
Riders to Watch
Open
The open race looks exactly as its title suggests, with a number of potential winners in a strong field which contains both hill climb specialists and road racers looking to upset the odds. A little over two minutes stands between the contenders and the season’s biggest prize.
I think if he gets everything right with his prep, makes no mistakes, then Bank Road has Keiran Wynne-Cattanach written all over it
“I think if he gets everything right with his prep, makes no mistakes, then Bank Road has Keiran Wynne-Cattanach written all over it,” says Evans, who beat his compatriot to the Welsh title on the lengthy slopes of the Tumble. However, the Team Lifting Gear Products rider has tasted victory on four occasions this season, twice landing a psychological blow to his teammate Andy Nichols, first on Green Moor Hill and then on Pea Royd Lane, both climbs of a similar profile to Bank Road. A bronze medal last year capped off an excellent season and steady rise for the 28-year-old, who enters the race with his best chance yet of taking the national title, currently topping the Spindata rankings.
Another former bronze medallist, Nichols will be no stranger to followers of domestic road racing, having finished in the top ten of the Rapha Lincoln GP before. However, it is in hill climbs he excels, putting down a marker when winning the prestigious Monsal Hill Climb this season. Perhaps his biggest victory this season came last Sunday, however, emerging through the pouring rain as the winner on Bank Road in what was effectively a dress rehearsal for the main event, beating defending champion Harry Macfarlane in the process.
Harry Macfarlane. Image: Mark James
Macfarlane (Rule 28 Outliers) is one of the sport’s biggest characters, his victory last year an inspirational one, with the Londoner starting to realise his potential after giving up smoking. In his interview with The British Continental, Macfarlane played up to his underdog tag, his best season yet on the road delaying his hill climb preparations. However, he got the better of both Nichols and Andrew Feather at the Riber Hill Climb last Sunday morning, proving his form is where it needs to be. A short, punchy effort, Bank Road will suit him well, the steepest bit of the climb ideally placed for his negative split strategy.
Last of the ‘big four’ who enter the race as the favourites for the crown is Andrew Feather (HuntBikeWheels.com), a rider whose reputation precedes him as the dominant force in the discipline since taking his first title back in 2018. By his own high standards, Feather hasn’t been in his best, all-conquering form this season – a lighter race programme still seeing him taste victory four times, although not since September. The lawyer made international headlines only a couple of weeks ago, winning the ‘Pogi Challenge’ in Slovenia, a mountain climb like nothing the UK can offer. Now 40, question marks hang over the explosivity in his legs – an 8th place up the 617m ascent of Monsal Head, demonstrating short, sharp efforts are more of a challenge than they once were. However, Bank Road is a minute longer and Feather has bounced back from defeat before. Can he claim a fifth title?
Away from the final four riders off the start line is a host of talent which could cause an upset. Gabe Dellar (Primera-TeamJobs) is chief among those riders, having finished 5th last year and twice a winner in open events this year. He was beaten by Ben Millar (Reflex Nopinz), however, at the VC Walcott event, a two-minute effort close to that of Bank Road, although he couldn’t match the times of Nichols and MacFarlane in Sunday’s dress rehearsal in Matlock. Josh Coyne (Elevate RT) has enjoyed an excellent season in 2025, coming within just 0.1 of a second of a famous victory in the Monsal Hill Climb. Coyne is very much a specialist in the very short climbs, however, Bank Road pushing the boundaries of his endurance. One dark horse lurking further up the start list is Harvey Weinberger (AS Test Team), who won the junior title on Bank Road in 2016. In and out of the sport since then, he was 7th in the 2021 Championships on Winnats Pass and won the prestigious Bec CC Hill Climb on White Lane in his only outing so far this year.
The start list includes a number of familiar names from road racing, with UCI winner Ewan Mackie representing local club Matlock CC, and the GCN contingent of Dan Lloyd, Connor Dunne and Alex Paton flying the flag for Bath CC. One such rider who has a real chance of upsetting the specialists is Matt Holmes (Wigan Wheelers). A former WorldTour professional who famously beat Richie Porte on Old Willunga Hill, Holmes proved in the 2024 Rapha Lincoln GP he can still produce a powerful effort uphill when sprinting up the cobblestones of Michaelgate to take victory. Although Sunday’s effort will come against fresh legs as opposed to after four hours of hard racing, he will be a rider expected to set a very tough benchmark as the first of the seeded riders to race.
Ben Granger. Image: Milan Josy/The British Continental
Ben Granger will swap his Mg.K Vis Costruzioni e Ambiente jersey for a Kendal CC one as the 25-year-old concludes his breakout season in the most British of ways. As a rider who conquered the CiCLE Classic courtesy of a solo break and traded blows with the likes of Isaac del Toro when coming third in the UCI .Pro Coppa Sabatini, he can feel slightly aggrieved at his 11:54 start time, some three hours before the favourites begin their descent to the start line. Self-styled as “not the best sprinter, not the best climber”, Granger was 7th on the Struggle, a much longer effort two years ago, and could crack the top ten once again.
Going off even earlier is one of the day’s first starters, Cormac Nisbet (University of Nottingham). The 20-year-old spent most of 2024 with the Soudal-Quick Step Development Team before giving up the sport and turning to triathlon. 6th in the U23 National Time Trial Championships in June proved his talent and, as a naturally gifted climber, he could find himself in the virtual hot seat for most of the day. Finally, one wildcard to watch out for is mountain biker Cameron Orr (Matlock CC), a local rider who will look to use his fast start from the grid to good effect.
Women’s
If the open race is one of the most competitive for years, the women’s race is all about one rider: Illi Gardner.
The Cardiff Ajax CC rider has taken the event to new levels, dominating the past three editions after giving up road racing and finding her calling in going uphill. She is the current Everesting world record holder and holds over 8,000 QOM titles on Strava, training and racing across Europe on her own terms. The only question mark surrounding Gardner is the length of Bank Road, it being shorter than her preferred efforts up longer climbs such as the Struggle.
Second the previous two years, Lizi Brooke (DAS-Hutchinson) will be hoping it is third time lucky on Sunday. The former triathlete excels in hilly road races and won the CTT 100-mile time trial title in July, switching her focus to this event with the championships being her only hill climb of the season, having been on a reconnaissance ride around Matlock this week.
Hannah Clough (University of Nottingham CC). Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
Also with eyes on the podium is Rachel Galler (FTP (Fulfil The Potential) RT), who has a 100% strike rate in hill climbs this season, taking victory on Monsal Head by a huge margin of 12 seconds over Hannah Clough (University of Nottingham CC). 21-year-old Clough has enjoyed a rapid rise in the sport over the past two seasons and is continually improving, landing an impressive double victory on Riber and Bank Road last Sunday.
Maddie Heywood (Elevate RT) is another rider to watch, having taken three wins so far this season, while Isabel Rodriguez (Warwick Lanterne Rouge CC) has notched up two wins in her breakthrough season in both road racing and hill climbs.
Sannah Zaman (CJ O’Shea) will look to set a benchmark time as one of the early starters, having won the junior title in 2021, while the bronze medallist from that day, Rebecca Richardson (Team Lifting Gear Products), is an experienced performer and has ridden well in tough conditions should the weather take a turn for the worse.
Like the open event, there are a number of riders who will be familiar to fans of road racing with ambitions of taking a medal, many turning their hand to hill climbing for the first time. Strong performers on climbs in road races, where the difference is so often made, these riders will rely on their fresh legs to maximise their explosivity over the short effort, their talent enough to concern the specialists.
Lucy Lee is perhaps the standout name among these riders, having soloed to victory in the Curlew Cup back in August and played a crucial role in the success of her DAS-Hutchinson team all season. Having sprinted to victory in the hilly Ryedale GP just over a year ago, she has all the attributes to aim for the podium.
Lucy Lee (DAS – Hutchinson) wins The Curlew Cup. Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
Jenny Holl (Stirling Bike Club) is another solid performer on the road and circuit scene, as well as being a seasoned track rider with experience in short, explosive events such as the tandem sprint and kilometre time trial. Her power should transfer well onto the steep slopes and relatively short effort needed up Bank Road.
Former CiCLE Classic winner El King (Handsling Alba Development RT), a sports scholar at the nearby University of Nottingham, is another powerful rider to keep an eye on. Like Holl, she is no stranger to the short bursts of effort required on the track, winning a bronze medal in the points race at the Commonwealth Games, her road performances underlining her potential. King was 5th in the Monsal Hill Climb, although the longer effort of Bank Road is likely to suit her.
A wildcard pick is Maria Holdcroft (Cowley Road Condors CC), who makes her championship debut in her first hill climb since 2023. An indoor specialist, she was 5th in the UCI Esports World Championships in 2024, a discipline favourable to hill climbers with power-to-weight ratio being critical.
Juniors
The junior category is always fiercely contested and has been a bellwether of potential for many riders over the years, with previous winners including Adam Blythe, James Knox, Luke Rowe and George Kimber in the open competition, with the likes of Abi Smith and Anna Henderson claiming the women’s title.
Over the past two years, Harry Hudson has taken the category to new heights, winning on both the Struggle in 2023 and Dipton Mill Road a year later in times that would have earned a medal in the senior category. Now Britain’s first Junior Road Race World Champion, the Sheffield teenager starts the race as the overwhelming favourite and could set the fastest time of the day in the rainbow bands in his final race for his Harrogate Nova team before joining Lidl-Trek Future.
Harry Hudson (Great Britain) wins the Men Junior Road Race World Championship. Image: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com
His prodigiously talented brother Finley will have ambitions to make the celebrations a family affair, bursting onto the scene with 4th place last year before stepping it up a level by placing 4th in the Monsal Hill Climb this month, less than two seconds off Andy Nichols’ winning time.
Ezra Bateman (Clifton CC York) has been the standout junior in hill climbs this season, running the best senior riders close a number of times and taking overall victory on Hammer Square Bank a month ago. He will want to push Harry Hudson close, along with Harley Widdowson. The 17-year-old Tofauti Everyone Active Majaco rider enjoyed a standout season on the road with a stage win in the Junior Race of South Wales and 3rd overall in the Vuelta a Cantabria. Widdowson edged Bateman to the silver medal last year, and with Finley Hudson only a further two seconds behind, the trio look set to reignite their rivalry on Sunday.
The junior women’s competition looks to be a battle between the 2023 winner Ruby Isaac (Tofauti Everyone Active Majaco) and last year’s champion Maia Howell (Shibden Cycling Club). Isaac demonstrated her class while still in the youth categories on the Struggle, smashing the age-group record by over four minutes to take the title as a 15-year-old, while Howell will have the advantage of local knowledge, the former Matlock CC rider a clear winner twelve months ago in the absence of Isaac.
Cow bells ringing, walls of fans lining the road, and iconic images of pain etched on riders’ faces as they push themselves to the limit up punishing gradients. This isn’t a scene from Alpe d’Huez or the Stelvio Pass, not even the cobblestones of the Muur van Geerardsbergen. Instead, it is the annual festival of cycling that is the RTTC National Hill Climb Championships, an icon of the British cycling calendar.
With the insight of two-time champion Dan Evans, The British Continental provides a comprehensive preview of this year’s event as over 400 riders and thousands of fans descend on the town of Matlock in Derbyshire this Sunday, the fearsome town centre spectacle of Bank Road taking centre stage.
Featured image: Mark James
What is it?
“Being the National Hill Climb Champion changed my life,” says Evans, who at the age of 44 is still racing and is the reigning Welsh Hill Climb Champion.
Held continuously since their inception in 1944, the championships are a highlight of the British autumn. The conclusion to a short but intense season, it has become one of the biggest grassroots sporting spectacles in the world.
The format is a simple one. Governed by CTT, the body responsible for time trials in the UK, riders are set off one by one in intervals for a short, punishing, all-out effort from the start at the bottom to the finish at the top. The fastest time is the winner. The hill, as per the topography and road design of the UK, is often short but punishingly steep.
“I love how pure it is. It’s just you, your bike and a horrible hill. No excuses, no hiding,” says ASSOS UK Race Team rider Evans, who added himself to a prestigious list of winners when taking his first title in 2014 in front of big crowds on Pea Royd Lane as cycling in Britain grew in popularity. “It was an absolute whirlwind,” he says, months of preparation coming down to an effort of little over three minutes. “It took a while for the gravity of what I’d achieved to set in.” By the time of his second title in 2017, bookmakers were taking bets and, as the favourite, for one Sunday in October the attention of the nation’s cycling press centred on him. “It was a completely different experience on Hedley on the Hill where I went in as favourite, topping the Paddy Power odds, and was riding well.
“That event was one of the best days of my life and a memory that will stay with me forever,” he adds.
In becoming champion, Evans joined riders such as Brian Robinson, Malcolm Elliott and Chris Boardman on the roll of honour, all of whom used the event as a springboard towards illustrious professional careers, while more recently Dan Fleeman chose to end his seasons with the top-level Cervélo Test Team by claiming back-to-back victories in 2009 and 2010. Evans is one of a number of specialists who have carved their way into the legend of the sport through the championships, Andrew Feather one such example as he aims for a fifth title on Sunday, something last achieved by Jim Henderson, who proved unstoppable around the turn of the millennium.
In 1998, the first event for women was held, won fittingly by a 15-year-old Nicole Cooke, with the likes of current champion Illi Gardner pushing the event to new boundaries.
The event has grown over the years from a once-exclusive 90-rider field to a modern-day festival of cycling, with over 400 entries from a variety of ages and backgrounds taking part.
The course
The AHC/6H course, more commonly known as Bank Road, has hosted the championships on two previous occasions, with Matlock CC again using the iconic climb this year. In 2008, Matt Clinton and Lyn Hamel won their first titles, while back in 2016 local riders Lou Bates and Adam Kenway scored emotional victories, the latter making a remarkable comeback after being involved in a collision with a car whilst out training on the course in the week.
The climb begins in the heart of the town centre, a daunting view greeting riders as they enter the starting area; the road veering steeply upwards in a straight line, both sides of the closed road tunnelled not only by residential properties but by the thousands of spectators.
Bank Road starts off gently, the gradient then ramping up as riders approach the halfway mark, the junction with Smedley Street marking the most difficult section of the climb, gradients not falling below 15% at this point and reaching 20% at their most perilous. It is just after this point that the course ends in its traditional layout used for the annual club event, the offering for the nationals longer, continuing round a right-hand bend onto Wellington Street as the gradient eases for a dash to the line. The fastest times are expected to be around the 2:15 to 2:20 mark, a strong wind from the east not likely to have much of an impact with the climb well sheltered from the elements.
“2016 was wild,” says Evans, who rode to 11th place almost a decade ago. “The crowd was three deep at the three-quarter mark, cowbells galore and a wall of noise until the corner near the top. From that point it went quiet, the bulk of the climb done and just the lonely last push to the line.
“I’ll approach Bank Road like I’ve always approached the nationals: a bit of training volume the week before, some sharper efforts in the week leading up to the race and plenty of excitement for what’s to come. On race day I’ll try and stay away from the crowds, stay relaxed, do my thing and enjoy the moment.
“I’m better suited to long climbs rather than the short and explosive efforts like Bank Road. My focus will be on getting as much power out on the steep section then holding on to the line.”
Riders to Watch
Open
The open race looks exactly as its title suggests, with a number of potential winners in a strong field which contains both hill climb specialists and road racers looking to upset the odds. A little over two minutes stands between the contenders and the season’s biggest prize.
“I think if he gets everything right with his prep, makes no mistakes, then Bank Road has Keiran Wynne-Cattanach written all over it,” says Evans, who beat his compatriot to the Welsh title on the lengthy slopes of the Tumble. However, the Team Lifting Gear Products rider has tasted victory on four occasions this season, twice landing a psychological blow to his teammate Andy Nichols, first on Green Moor Hill and then on Pea Royd Lane, both climbs of a similar profile to Bank Road. A bronze medal last year capped off an excellent season and steady rise for the 28-year-old, who enters the race with his best chance yet of taking the national title, currently topping the Spindata rankings.
Another former bronze medallist, Nichols will be no stranger to followers of domestic road racing, having finished in the top ten of the Rapha Lincoln GP before. However, it is in hill climbs he excels, putting down a marker when winning the prestigious Monsal Hill Climb this season. Perhaps his biggest victory this season came last Sunday, however, emerging through the pouring rain as the winner on Bank Road in what was effectively a dress rehearsal for the main event, beating defending champion Harry Macfarlane in the process.
Macfarlane (Rule 28 Outliers) is one of the sport’s biggest characters, his victory last year an inspirational one, with the Londoner starting to realise his potential after giving up smoking. In his interview with The British Continental, Macfarlane played up to his underdog tag, his best season yet on the road delaying his hill climb preparations. However, he got the better of both Nichols and Andrew Feather at the Riber Hill Climb last Sunday morning, proving his form is where it needs to be. A short, punchy effort, Bank Road will suit him well, the steepest bit of the climb ideally placed for his negative split strategy.
Last of the ‘big four’ who enter the race as the favourites for the crown is Andrew Feather (HuntBikeWheels.com), a rider whose reputation precedes him as the dominant force in the discipline since taking his first title back in 2018. By his own high standards, Feather hasn’t been in his best, all-conquering form this season – a lighter race programme still seeing him taste victory four times, although not since September. The lawyer made international headlines only a couple of weeks ago, winning the ‘Pogi Challenge’ in Slovenia, a mountain climb like nothing the UK can offer. Now 40, question marks hang over the explosivity in his legs – an 8th place up the 617m ascent of Monsal Head, demonstrating short, sharp efforts are more of a challenge than they once were. However, Bank Road is a minute longer and Feather has bounced back from defeat before. Can he claim a fifth title?
Away from the final four riders off the start line is a host of talent which could cause an upset. Gabe Dellar (Primera-TeamJobs) is chief among those riders, having finished 5th last year and twice a winner in open events this year. He was beaten by Ben Millar (Reflex Nopinz), however, at the VC Walcott event, a two-minute effort close to that of Bank Road, although he couldn’t match the times of Nichols and MacFarlane in Sunday’s dress rehearsal in Matlock. Josh Coyne (Elevate RT) has enjoyed an excellent season in 2025, coming within just 0.1 of a second of a famous victory in the Monsal Hill Climb. Coyne is very much a specialist in the very short climbs, however, Bank Road pushing the boundaries of his endurance. One dark horse lurking further up the start list is Harvey Weinberger (AS Test Team), who won the junior title on Bank Road in 2016. In and out of the sport since then, he was 7th in the 2021 Championships on Winnats Pass and won the prestigious Bec CC Hill Climb on White Lane in his only outing so far this year.
The start list includes a number of familiar names from road racing, with UCI winner Ewan Mackie representing local club Matlock CC, and the GCN contingent of Dan Lloyd, Connor Dunne and Alex Paton flying the flag for Bath CC. One such rider who has a real chance of upsetting the specialists is Matt Holmes (Wigan Wheelers). A former WorldTour professional who famously beat Richie Porte on Old Willunga Hill, Holmes proved in the 2024 Rapha Lincoln GP he can still produce a powerful effort uphill when sprinting up the cobblestones of Michaelgate to take victory. Although Sunday’s effort will come against fresh legs as opposed to after four hours of hard racing, he will be a rider expected to set a very tough benchmark as the first of the seeded riders to race.
Ben Granger will swap his Mg.K Vis Costruzioni e Ambiente jersey for a Kendal CC one as the 25-year-old concludes his breakout season in the most British of ways. As a rider who conquered the CiCLE Classic courtesy of a solo break and traded blows with the likes of Isaac del Toro when coming third in the UCI .Pro Coppa Sabatini, he can feel slightly aggrieved at his 11:54 start time, some three hours before the favourites begin their descent to the start line. Self-styled as “not the best sprinter, not the best climber”, Granger was 7th on the Struggle, a much longer effort two years ago, and could crack the top ten once again.
Going off even earlier is one of the day’s first starters, Cormac Nisbet (University of Nottingham). The 20-year-old spent most of 2024 with the Soudal-Quick Step Development Team before giving up the sport and turning to triathlon. 6th in the U23 National Time Trial Championships in June proved his talent and, as a naturally gifted climber, he could find himself in the virtual hot seat for most of the day. Finally, one wildcard to watch out for is mountain biker Cameron Orr (Matlock CC), a local rider who will look to use his fast start from the grid to good effect.
Women’s
If the open race is one of the most competitive for years, the women’s race is all about one rider: Illi Gardner.
The Cardiff Ajax CC rider has taken the event to new levels, dominating the past three editions after giving up road racing and finding her calling in going uphill. She is the current Everesting world record holder and holds over 8,000 QOM titles on Strava, training and racing across Europe on her own terms. The only question mark surrounding Gardner is the length of Bank Road, it being shorter than her preferred efforts up longer climbs such as the Struggle.
Second the previous two years, Lizi Brooke (DAS-Hutchinson) will be hoping it is third time lucky on Sunday. The former triathlete excels in hilly road races and won the CTT 100-mile time trial title in July, switching her focus to this event with the championships being her only hill climb of the season, having been on a reconnaissance ride around Matlock this week.
Also with eyes on the podium is Rachel Galler (FTP (Fulfil The Potential) RT), who has a 100% strike rate in hill climbs this season, taking victory on Monsal Head by a huge margin of 12 seconds over Hannah Clough (University of Nottingham CC). 21-year-old Clough has enjoyed a rapid rise in the sport over the past two seasons and is continually improving, landing an impressive double victory on Riber and Bank Road last Sunday.
Maddie Heywood (Elevate RT) is another rider to watch, having taken three wins so far this season, while Isabel Rodriguez (Warwick Lanterne Rouge CC) has notched up two wins in her breakthrough season in both road racing and hill climbs.
Sannah Zaman (CJ O’Shea) will look to set a benchmark time as one of the early starters, having won the junior title in 2021, while the bronze medallist from that day, Rebecca Richardson (Team Lifting Gear Products), is an experienced performer and has ridden well in tough conditions should the weather take a turn for the worse.
Like the open event, there are a number of riders who will be familiar to fans of road racing with ambitions of taking a medal, many turning their hand to hill climbing for the first time. Strong performers on climbs in road races, where the difference is so often made, these riders will rely on their fresh legs to maximise their explosivity over the short effort, their talent enough to concern the specialists.
Lucy Lee is perhaps the standout name among these riders, having soloed to victory in the Curlew Cup back in August and played a crucial role in the success of her DAS-Hutchinson team all season. Having sprinted to victory in the hilly Ryedale GP just over a year ago, she has all the attributes to aim for the podium.
Jenny Holl (Stirling Bike Club) is another solid performer on the road and circuit scene, as well as being a seasoned track rider with experience in short, explosive events such as the tandem sprint and kilometre time trial. Her power should transfer well onto the steep slopes and relatively short effort needed up Bank Road.
Former CiCLE Classic winner El King (Handsling Alba Development RT), a sports scholar at the nearby University of Nottingham, is another powerful rider to keep an eye on. Like Holl, she is no stranger to the short bursts of effort required on the track, winning a bronze medal in the points race at the Commonwealth Games, her road performances underlining her potential. King was 5th in the Monsal Hill Climb, although the longer effort of Bank Road is likely to suit her.
A wildcard pick is Maria Holdcroft (Cowley Road Condors CC), who makes her championship debut in her first hill climb since 2023. An indoor specialist, she was 5th in the UCI Esports World Championships in 2024, a discipline favourable to hill climbers with power-to-weight ratio being critical.
Juniors
The junior category is always fiercely contested and has been a bellwether of potential for many riders over the years, with previous winners including Adam Blythe, James Knox, Luke Rowe and George Kimber in the open competition, with the likes of Abi Smith and Anna Henderson claiming the women’s title.
Over the past two years, Harry Hudson has taken the category to new heights, winning on both the Struggle in 2023 and Dipton Mill Road a year later in times that would have earned a medal in the senior category. Now Britain’s first Junior Road Race World Champion, the Sheffield teenager starts the race as the overwhelming favourite and could set the fastest time of the day in the rainbow bands in his final race for his Harrogate Nova team before joining Lidl-Trek Future.
His prodigiously talented brother Finley will have ambitions to make the celebrations a family affair, bursting onto the scene with 4th place last year before stepping it up a level by placing 4th in the Monsal Hill Climb this month, less than two seconds off Andy Nichols’ winning time.
Ezra Bateman (Clifton CC York) has been the standout junior in hill climbs this season, running the best senior riders close a number of times and taking overall victory on Hammer Square Bank a month ago. He will want to push Harry Hudson close, along with Harley Widdowson. The 17-year-old Tofauti Everyone Active Majaco rider enjoyed a standout season on the road with a stage win in the Junior Race of South Wales and 3rd overall in the Vuelta a Cantabria. Widdowson edged Bateman to the silver medal last year, and with Finley Hudson only a further two seconds behind, the trio look set to reignite their rivalry on Sunday.
The junior women’s competition looks to be a battle between the 2023 winner Ruby Isaac (Tofauti Everyone Active Majaco) and last year’s champion Maia Howell (Shibden Cycling Club). Isaac demonstrated her class while still in the youth categories on the Struggle, smashing the age-group record by over four minutes to take the title as a 15-year-old, while Howell will have the advantage of local knowledge, the former Matlock CC rider a clear winner twelve months ago in the absence of Isaac.
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